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A man in his 50s attended the emergency department with an acute deterioration in his Parkinson’s symptoms, presenting with limb rigidity, widespread tremor, choreiform dyskinesia, dysarthria, intense sadness and a severe occipital headache. After excluding common differentials for sudden-onset parkinsonism (eg, infection, medication change), an error on the patient’s deep brain stimulator was noted. The patient’s symptoms only resolved once he was transferred to the specialist centre so that the programmer could reset the device settings. Due to COVID-19-related bed pressures on the ward, there was a delay in the patient receiving specialist attention—highlighting the need for non-specialist training in the emergency management of device errors.

A methodology has been developed to chromatographically quantify indium in polymetallic (bio)hydrometallurgical processing solutions using the Dionex IonPac CS5A column and pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylic acid eluent. Cu(II) and In(III) could be separated by elevating the column temperature to 45 • C. The comparatively low stability constant of the In-eluent complex (log K 2 = 3.8) required typical leaching samples to be diluted in the eluent rather than acid or water to overcome ligand competition between components of the sample solution and the eluent. The methodology was applied to leachates from (bio)hydrometallurgical processing of oxidic flue dust residues and sulfidic zinc ores, where both are promising candidates for the recovery of indium from low grade ores and metallurgical wastes. Indium, ferrous iron, ferric iron, copper, zinc, nickel, and manganese concentrations could be simultaneously quantified. The method was found suitable for samples containing at least 0.25 mg/L indium and an iron to indium ratio of up to 100:1. K E Y W O R D Scomplex stability, hydrometallurgy, indium, ion exchange chromatography, leaching

Clinical-academics are well established and expanding in English health settings. However, despite growing evidence that research-active organisations improve service quality and outputs, research by social work practitioners remains relatively rare in social work practice in England other than as part of qualifying or post-qualifying study. In this context, the National Institute for Health and Care Research developed new funding streams to support the development of ‘practitioner–academics’, as an equivalent to clinical-academics in health settings. As early career practitioner–academics, who undertake research whilst remaining employed in our social work organisations, we present a case for practitioner–academic research, via two small research projects within our teams based on creative methods and focus groups. These projects illustrate the benefits of practitioner–academics in the knowledge production process, improving access to hard-to-reach research areas, developing swift rapport, which facilitates the production of rich and reliable data, and providing a novel means to navigate ethical issues including researcher positionality and research sensitivity. We also highlight challenges around informed consent, employee roles and researcher bias, including where practitioners are critical of practice within their service areas or are exposed to criticism themselves.